Work Text:
The street was filled with neon lights, their reflections shimmering across the wet pavement.
In the background, conversations in Japanese blended together with music from stores still open late into the night and the constant sound of plastic capsules clashing inside gachapon machines.
Kyoto at night felt strangely peaceful for a city so alive at those hours.
The two Frenchmen walked hand in hand, observing every shop around them. They had exchanged French money for Japanese yen, so they could easily buy anything they liked.
Hugo noticed a store packed with rows and rows of machines glowing beneath LED lights, filled with anime figures, keychains, miniatures of video game characters, pets, and sports teams.
And among all of them—
PXG. (And the rest of the NEL teams too, I guess.)
Loki barely had time to point at it before Hugo was already standing in front of the machine, studying the catalog attached to the plastic.
The members of Paris X Gen in chibi form.
Shidou grinning like a maniac, Rin looking permanently irritated, Charles holding a soccer ball, Chapa relaxed as always, Karasu winking, Nanase smiling like a baby, and the rest of the members Hugo didn’t care much about.
The one who truly mattered was PXG’s ace.
Julian Loki, with a soccer ball under his left foot while standing with his arms crossed and his usual arrogant expression, which, to Hugo, was the best smile he had ever seen in his entire life as a mortal.
“Interesting.” Hugo murmured, leaning slightly forward. “Commercializing miniature versions of sports figures creates emotional attachment and a sense of collection. It’s quite efficient, this type of merchandise probably helps complete our salaries.”
“Are you analyzing a gachapon machine?”
“Yes.”
“My God..” He dragged a hand down his face while Vivian was already pulling out coins.
“One pull.”
“Just one?”
“Statistically, yes.”
The first capsule was for Loki, and he opened it immediately.
“Oh, Shidou.” The miniature figure had an exaggerated grin and completely unhinged eyes.
“Quite fitting.” Hugo commented.
“How is that fitting?”
“Shidou constantly annoys you and you still tolerate him.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. He’s part of the team, besides, I guess he complements Charles well.”
The second capsule belonged to Hugo, and he opened it with the same neutral expression as always.
Chapa.
Loki immediately burst out laughing.
“Wow, Chapa..” Julian said, Vivian frowned slightly and put it back inside the capsule.
Because one second later he inserted more coins.
And again.
And again.
And again.
Loki had originally thought Hugo was trying to complete the collection. Until he started noticing a pattern.
Whenever Rin appeared, Hugo only said “I see.” Whenever another Shidou came out, he stored it away without looking. Whenever Charles appeared, he barely nodded.
But every time a capsule appeared with the possibility of being Loki, the midfielder went completely still before opening it.
As if it genuinely mattered.
The empty capsules began piling up in a corner of the store.
“Hugo.” Another coin. “Vivi, you already have seven duplicates.” Another coin. “I’m talking to you.”
“The probability should have increased by now.”
“That’s not how it works.”
“Then the machine is defective.” Loki was practically folding over from laughter.
He had never seen Hugo so absurdly focused on something so small.
The redhead stared at the machine with his dead, analytical eyes as if he were trying to solve a tactical equation before a professional match.
“Beep-beep.” He murmured while turning the knob again.
The next capsule dropped.
Hugo immediately grabbed it.
He opened it, and the dark-skinned man tilted his head slightly.
And there he was.
Julian Loki in miniature form.
Black hair, the PXG uniform, and an absurdly serious tiny expression that looked far too much like him.
Hugo smiled faintly.
Loki felt something strange tighten in his chest when he saw it, because Vivian almost never smiled like that.
Not over silly things, and even less over objects.
But there he was, holding an absurdly tiny keychain as if it had genuinely been worth it.
“Happy?” Loki asked, trying to sound normal.
“Yes.” He said, taking out a paper bag he had apparently been carrying the entire time (as if he had known those machines would be there from the beginning) and placing the rest of the capsules inside it.
But for Julian’s figure, he clipped it onto the bag he was carrying with him.
Loki walked a few steps ahead of Hugo, who still carried the little bag full of empty capsules that rattled every time they moved.
“I think you developed an addiction.” Loki commented, slightly turning to look at him over his shoulder.
Hugo walked calmly beside him, his hands inside the pockets of his coat.
“Incorrect.”
“Incorrect?”
“It wasn’t an addiction. It was a logical investment.” Loki let out a short laugh.
Of course. Obviously Hugo had a “logical” explanation for spending almost all his coins trying to get one specific keychain.
“You’re still carrying the empty ones.”
“You didn’t want to carry them.”
“Well, they’re not mine.”
“Incorrect. They’re ours.”
“You bought them.”
“But you were present during the event.” Loki exhaled through his nose, smiling faintly.
They continued walking through the illuminated streets.
“Why mine?” He finally asked.
“Because you’re my favorite.” He said it as if it were obvious.
As if he hadn’t just dropped a nuclear bomb directly into Loki’s chest.
And he kept walking normally afterward.
As if nothing had happened.
As if he hadn’t left Julian Loki completely speechless beneath the lights of Kyoto while the tiny keychain softly bumped against Hugo’s bag with every step.